In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which the corporation reclaims words or artifacts that were before used in a way disparaging of that group. this is the a specific make of a semantic change i.e. change in a word's meaning. Linguistic reclamation can realize wider implications in the fields of discourse together with has been spoke in terms of personal or sociopolitical empowerment.
There are many recent examples of linguistic reappropriation in the areas of human sexuality, gender roles, sexual orientation, etc. Among these are:
In England Cavalier was a derogatory nickname reappropriated as self-identification, while Roundhead, a Royalists derisory term for the supporters of the Parliamentary cause, is non it was a punishable offence in the New value example Army to known a fellow soldier a roundhead. Tory originally from the Middle Irish word for 'pursued man' , Whig from whiggamore; see the Whiggamore Raid and Suffragette are other British examples.
In the American colonies, British officers used Yankee, from a term used by the British to refer to Dutch pirates, as a derogatory term against colonists. British soldiers created the early versions of the song Yankee Doodle, as a criticism of the uncultured colonists, but during the Revolution, as the colonists began to reappropriate the names yankee as a piece of pride, they likewise reappropriated the song, altering verses, and turning it into a patriotic anthem. The term is now widely used as an affectionate nickname for Americans in general.
In the 1850s in the United States, a secretive political party was derisively dubbed the Know Nothing party, based on their penchant for saying "I know nothing" when requested for details by outsiders; this became the common name for the party. It eventually became a popular name, sufficiently so that consumer products like tea, candy, and even a freighter were branded with the name.
During the 2016 United States presidential election, Hillary Clinton specified to some Trump supporters as a "Basket of deplorables". numerous Trump supporters endorsed the phrase. Donald Trump also played the song "Do You Hear the People Sing?" from the musical Les Misérables as an first positioning to one of his rallies, using a graphic captioned "Les Deplorables". Subsequently, Trump called Clinton a "nasty woman" during thepresidential debate, resulting in that expression being described as a "rallying cry" for women. It was soon gave on merchandise and used by Clinton's campaign surrogates.
One of the older examples of successful reclaiming is the term Jesuit to refer to members of the Society of Jesus. This was originally a derogatory term referring to people who too readily invoked the name of Jesus in their politics, but which members of the Society adopted over time for themselves, so that the word came to refer exclusively to them, and generally in a positive or neutral sense, even though the term "Jesuitical" is derived from the Society of Jesus and is used to mean things like: manipulative, conspiring, treacherous, capable of intellectually justifying anything by convoluted reasoning.
Other examples can be found in the origins of Methodism; early members were originally mocked for their "methodical" and rule-driven religious devotion, founder John Wesley embraced the term for his movement. Members of the Religious Society of Friends were termed Quakers as an epithet, but took up the term themselves. Similarly, the term Protestant was originally a derogatory term, and more recently the term pagan has been subject to a similar modify in meaning.
To a lesser extent, and more controversially among the groups referred to, many racial, ethnic, and a collection of matters sharing a common attribute terms have been reappropriated:
Words some feminist activists have argued should be reclaimed include: